Jump to content

Melrose Place


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Replies 1.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

Wow, it took 6 seasons but Andrew Shue finally had a genuinely well-acted scene! (Or, at least, half of it) when Sam announced they were getting married. I laughed my ass off, something which I did a lot of since it seems MELROSE PLACE finally managed to do some humor. And Jamie Luner is just fantastic from the moment she walks in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I also loved Jamie Luner. The first few episodes she was kind of quiet but then she really took off.

The show had so many great female characters (even if written poorly now and then). The guys I always found to be so boring in comparison except for Michael.

I like Jack Wagner and Rob Estes but never found them that appealing on MP.

Billy was a dud.

Jake, I never really enjoyed paired with anyone (and that was probably more from the writing).

Matt was a snooze except when he tried to out crazy Kimberly while Michael had "amnesia".

Craig could have been a good business rival for Amanda in the beginning but then that got trashed.

Coop was annoying as all get out!

Sydney is still my fave character.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Members

Just finished the last episode and I absolutely loved it. It was a great sendoff for everyone and I liked where they all ended up. The only thing is that I wish we would have at least gotten guest appearances from Billy, Alison, Jake, Jo...any of the still living characters. For example, I think it would have been great for Billy or Alison to have made an appearance at Peter and Amanda's "funeral". Or I would have even loved a montage of the best moments from the show. Still, I would give the finale a solid A.

I'm so sad that I am done with it!!! It seems so hard to believe when I think about how the show changed over time and how event after event just kept happening for SEVEN SEASONS. *sigh* Guess I'll move on to "Dynasty" now...

Thanks Melrose Place for providing such wonderful entertainment. Even in its weak spots, I would still rank it as one of the best primetime soaps ever. In fact, I almost want to go back and watch the best episodes again already!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

To be honest, most of the cast members at this time were still kind of stuck up about the show and either wanted too much compensation, just wouldn't do it or had scheduling conflicts. Courtney Thorne-Smith (Alison) was pretty much the only cast member who was up to doing a cameo, but she only wanted a non-speaking part but couldn't do it in the end due to her commitments on Ally McBeal, I believe. She was slated to appear in the bar scene where Amanda and Peter dances just before Eve tries to run them over if I remember correctly.

Here are some other concepts that were thrown around according to Charles Pratt Jr:

- An idea that went pretty far, possibly even filmed but cut out, was that Natalie - yes, Natalie, Alison's roommate that left in the first minute of the first episode - was supposed to come back and ask Lexi (Jamie Luner) if she knew where Alison was. It was dropped as it was considered to be too obscure.

- Another idea was to have Eve's (Rena Sofer) last scene having her being taken to a psychiatrist - as she would've entered the office the chair would've swirlved around to reveal none other than the good doctor Kimberley Shaw (Marcia Cross). They apparently even negotiated with Marcia about coming back, but she demanded too much cash.

- The most insane idea, however, was to have a dream sequence/one of the characters (possibly Michael (dream) or Eve (death)) going to Melrose Hell - basically meeting all the dead bad guys in a twisted hellish version of the courtyard. This was scrapped when it became apparent it was going to be too expensive to bring them all back.

They also had a plot planned for bringing back Sydney at the start of season 7 with her having been kidnapped and had her death faked by that millionaire who courted her in season 5 (I forget his name). That idea was scrapped when Laura Leighton suddenly signed to 90210 instead.

Edited by te.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Damn. Season 7 could have been totally revitalized if Syd were brought back then.

It's too bad the cast at the time were so snobby about the show after they left. Now I'd bet they'd all come back. I mean half of them appeared in the totally wasted reboot.

And could you imagine seeing Kimberly alive at the end? Damn. Would have been amazing.

Edited by KMan101
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Here's one of the articles where they talk about the whole thing:

Re: "Melrose Hell"

Re: Kimberly returning:

Re: Sydney returning:

Re: Darren Star about the show's lasting longer:

Re: "character's returning" (the one who was sick was Courtney Thorne-Smith)

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/lat0524.html

The Natalie scene was indeed filmed apparently:

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/tvg0528.html

Can't believe The Place is up all these years later! Too bad very few of the images work.

Here's another article about ending the show with Charles Pratt Jr and Carol Mendelsohn plus Homicide's Tom Fontana and Another World's Leah Laiman:

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/nyt0613.html

Edited by te.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

In all honesty - I have no problem with the finale. I thought it was good in the way that they tied up the loose ends, but left enough things open to speculate about.

I agree with what Darren Star said though - if the show had been handled with more care after he left, it could've gone on for another seven seasons, but a lot of stuff happened to prevent that. I think Heather's pregnancy screwed up season 6 in a major way as they had to start filming earlier and it was obvious that they had no idea what direction to take the season in leaving a lot of loose end plots (Samantha paints a creepy picture! Michael dates a stripper! COOP.). Doug Savant was also signed up to do half the season, but because of commitments they had to write him out in the first episode.

BTW - I'm rewatching season 1 right now and I guess Natalie did come back to check her mail:

10mn685.jpg

Edited by te.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Surely we (and Billy Flynn) are not going to be saddled with a character named Aristotle Dumas? This isn't 1970's Edge of Night.
    • What annoys me a little bit about the "day players" is they sound a bit too "Brooklyn-ish" sometimes.  Obviously, the show was taped in New York City, and the actors are all New York actors, but Monticello is supposed to be located in Illinois or Ohio.  Occasionally, they grab actors and actresses for small roles who have VERY distinct New York accents, which contrasts sharply with the main cast, none of whom have noticeable accents (except for our dashing European gigolo, Eliot Dorn, of course).  The heavy Brooklyn accent works fine if the character is a bookie, or the owner of a pawn shop, or a guy who's selling stolen guns on the street corner.  But when it's a steadily recurring character -- such as the first Mrs. Goodman, who worked for Miles and Nicole -- it's pretty jarring to me sometimes.  And you'll see it often -- such as an "under-five" character who witnesses a car accident, or a character who witnesses a shooting, or the occasional desk clerk, or waiter.  
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • I'm screaming at those clips and gifs.  THIS IS PURE GOLD.

      Please register in order to view this content

    • That's always been my thought. I can't imagine that the show would play up the unseen AD so far in advance without them casting a *star*. After today's episode, I wonder if he'll somehow be connected with Diane. It was strange that Diane mentioned her very distant family today. I can't recall Diane ever talking about her backstory. Maybe he's her much younger brother?  It's also possible he's connected to Diane during her time in LA. Sally's already said she crossed paths with him. OC, I think Dumas is Mariah's mistake.... As a side note, it was good to see some mixing it up - Adam with Clare/Kyle and Sharon with Tessa.
    • Here's the place to share some memorable criticism. You don't have to agree with it, of course (that's often where the fun starts). Like I mentioned to @DRW50, Sally Field was a favorite punching bag in the late '80s and early '90s.   Punchline (the 1988 movie where she and Tom Hanks are stand ups): "It's impossible to tell the difference between Miss Field's routines that are supposed to be awful, and the awful ones that are supposed to be funny." -- Vincent Canby, New York Times. "It's not merely that Field is miscast; she's miscast in a role that leaves no other resource available to her except her lovability. And (David) Seltzer's script forces her to peddle it shamelessly." -- Hal Hinson, Washington Post. "As a woman who can't tell a joke, Sally Field is certainly convincing. ... Field has become an unendurable performer ... She seems to be begging the audience not to punch her. Which, of course, is the worst kind of bullying from an actor. ... She's certainly nothing like the great housewife-comedian Roseanne Barr, who is a tough, uninhibited performer. Sally Field's pandering kind of 'heart' couldn't be further from the spirit of comedy." -- David Denby, New York   Steel Magnolias: The leading ladies: Dolly Parton: "She is one of the sunniest and most natural of actresses," Roger Ebert wrote. Imagining that she probably saw Truvy as an against-type role, Hinson concluded it's still well within her wheelhouse. "She's just wearing fewer rhinestones." Sally Field: "Field, as always, is a lead ball in the middle of the movie," according to Denby . M'Lynn giving her kidney to Shelby brought out David's bitchy side. "I can think of a lot more Sally Field organs that could be sacrificed." Shirley MacLaine: "(She) attacks her part with the ferociousness of a pit bull," Hinson wrote. "The performance is so manic that you think she must be taking off-camera slugs of Jolt." (I agree. If there was anyone playing to the cheap seats in this movie, it's Shirley.) Olympia Dukakis: "Excruciating, sitting on her southern accent as if each obvious sarcasm was dazzlingly witty," Denby wrote. Daryl Hannah: "Miss Hannah's performance is difficult to judge," according to Canby, which seems to suggest he took a genuine "if you can't say something nice ..." approach. Julia Roberts: "(She acts) with the kind of mega-intensity the camera cannot always absorb," Canby wrote. That comment is so fascinating in light of the nearly 40 years Julia has spent as a Movie Star. She is big. It's the audience who had to play catch up. And on that drag-ish note ... The movie itself: "You feel as if you have been airlifted onto some horrible planet of female impersonators," Hinson wrote. Canby: "Is one supposed to laugh at these women, or with them? It's difficult to tell." Every review I read acknowledged the less than naturalistic dialogue in ways both complimentary (Ebert loved the way the women talked) and cutting (Harling wrote too much exposition, repeating himself like a teenager telling a story, Denby wrote). Harling wrote with sincerity and passion, Canby acknowledged, but it's still a work of "bitchiness and greeting card truisms." The ending was less likely to inspire feeling good as it was feeling relieved, according to Denby. "(It's) as if a group of overbearing, self-absorbed, but impeccable mediocre people at last exit from the house."
    • I tend to have two minds about Tawny (Kathy Najimy) fainting during Soapdish's big reveal. You're the costume designer, if anything, you should have known the whole time. I guess it's an application of what TV Tropes calls the "Rule of Funny." Every time I watch Delirious, I always want the genuine romance in John and Mariel's reunion at the deli counter to last longer. Film critics had their knives out for Sally in this period. I'll start a separate thread on the movies page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy